Nothing's So Heavy as a Secret
by JoshuaHisbert
Summary: Kurt knows Blaine has secrets. And those secrets are revealed when Rachel receives some exciting news. But Maybe the Berry's are just what he needs right now. That is, they will be if they don't let Kurt find out. Klaine, Anderberry!sibblings ON HAITUS
1. Chapter 1

**Title**:Nothing's So Heavy as a Secret

**Main Pairings**: Kurt/Blaine, Rachel/Finn

**Summary**: Blaine has secrets. Kurt _knows_ that Blaine has secrets. And those secrets are revealed when Rachel receives some exciting news from her fathers. Will the life Blaine has built come crumbling down when she finds out, or will the Berry's be able to help him? And what will happen when Kurt finds out? Sometimes, one secret getting out is all it takes to break someone.

**Rating**: T, mostly for language. Not in this chapter, I don't think, but as the story goes on.

**Word Count**: 4,588 words according to fanfiction... word says 4,571 *shrugs*

**Disclaimer**: Glee is created by Ryan Murphy, I don't own it, it's on Fox, blah blah blah. I mean, why would I be writing fan fiction if I owned it? The only things I suppose I own are the people who have _not_ been on Glee that show up - like Michael. But yeah, Glee, not mine.

**Beta'd By**: themuse19

**Authors Note:** Wow. I have not uploaded anything in a really long time... just haven't been in a very writty-mood lately. And I'm behind on school work...

But, anyways, I got this idea the other night while reading threw all those Anderberry!sibling fics. I originally wasn't going to write it, but I couldn't get the idea out of my head. So, I jotted it down. I haven't actually proof-read it yet, so if something doesn't make sense, let me know. I'm kinda sick and out of it, so I'm sorry if something's confusing... I'll read over it tomorrow and edit it.

So, this is a different take on Rachel and Blaine being siblings, in which seasons 1 and 2 are Cannon. Well, as far as I can remember they're cannon. It starts during the summer before Rachel's senior year, and goes on through season 3, which will obviously _not_ be cannon... well, _fully_ cannon. Loosely based on cannon.

I'll do my best to update as soon as I can. I'll try and write ahead on it so I can get out regular updates, but for right now this is all I have. I wanted to get it out before I forgot. And I'll edit it and fix it tomorrow afternoon, so _please_ let me know if you see anything that I should fix, whether spelling, grammar, or an overly OOC section. And I have never really written a lot of Rachel before... so I did my best.

Also, since season 3, I've been seeing Blaine differently. He's not as dapper as people make him out to be all the time. I mean, he's snapped plenty of times. He also cares about his image a lot. He sort of is a lot like Rachel, and yet different at the same time. So I'm going to try and incorporate that in here. So he may seem angry more often than what _would_ be seen in character, but considering the circumstances, I see it as in character...

Anyways, I'll let you read now... if you haven't just skipped this. I hope it makes sense and that you enjoy it, and I'll be sure to update it soon~

**EDIT:** The wonderful themuse19 has now edited this :3 I'm also 2,000 words into the next chapter, so I'll be sure to have it up on Christmas Day at the latest. Thank you for reading!

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><p>"<em>Nothing weighs on us so heavily as a secret."<em>

-Jean De La Fontaine

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><p>"Rachel, could we speak to you for a second?"<p>

Said brunette spun around quickly, just before she was about to make her way upstairs. Her dads were sitting together at the kitchen table, smiling at her, their hands clasped over the table. She grinned at her parents before placing her bags at the bottom of the stairs and walking over to them with a small skip in her step.

Summer vacation was now half over, and Rachel was _very_ excited to get ready for her senior year. She had the greatest guy in the world as her boyfriend, and she and Kurt had gotten to be even closer since he'd been spending much more time at the Hummel/Hudson household. In fact, the two had spent the entire day shopping – Kurt claiming that he wanted to try and make her 'fashionably acceptable' for their last year of high school. And who was she to complain? She wanted to go out with a big _**bang**_ after all; why not let Kurt help her with her clothes? And they did look nice on her… Not to mention, Kurt said Finn would like it. Although, thinking of when he said that their Sophomore year… oh well, they were friends now, she trusted him.

"Yes, daddies?" she asked with a smile. When Hiram motioned for her to sit down, she quickly did so, her fathers smiling at each other before turning to face her.

"Well, since this year is going to be your senior year and all…" Hiram started, glancing at his husband lovingly. It still amazed Rachel how much her fathers still acted like love-struck teenagers, and even though it was at times embarrassing or slightly gross and disturbing, she had to admit that it was sweet. She wondered if she and Finn would ever be able to be like that – that is, if she and Finn managed to find a way to stay together when she went to New York of course.

"We were thinking that it might be a good time to… adopt another child," Leroy finished, snapping Rachel from her thoughts.

"A-another kid?" she stuttered, slightly stunned. She'd always been an only child, getting all of her fathers' attention. She liked it that way. But, maybe if she had a little brother or sister, she'd be able to teach them all about how to be a star, and she knew she'd be a great role model. Her shocked face spread into a grin. "You know, that actually sounds like a pretty good idea!"

"We're glad you think so, Rachel," Leroy grinned in relief, turning his gaze from his husband to his daughter. "We were thinking that maybe you would want to come with us when we go and meet him. Your papa and I have been thinking about this for a little while, sweetheart, and the social worker told us about a little boy that may fit well in our family. His name is Michael; he's six years old. He's in a boys' home not too far from here – we were thinking of going tomorrow?"

"Not to adopt him yet or anything," Hiram added quickly. "Just to meet him. It wouldn't be very fair of us to take him home if he didn't even know us. He must've gone through enough already. We already called the social worker and she said that it was okay for us to go visit. We just wanted to check with you first, because we wouldn't ever want to do something so drastic as this without making sure you were okay with it."

"Sounds perfect!" exclaimed Rachel. The more she thought about it, the more excited she was at the thought. "Just let me call Kurt and Finn. We were supposed to meet up with the rest of New Directions for a movie, but I'm sure they'll understand." Hopping up from her seat, she walked over to the other side of the table, giving each of her fathers a kiss on the cheek before going back to the stairs and grabbing her bags. She flashed them another grin before running up the stairs and into her room. She heard her papa call out that they were leaving around noon tomorrow, and grinned. Not long to wait then. Placing the bags beside her bed, she fell backwards and onto her bed with her cell phone up to her ear.

"Hi, Kurt!" she called happily when the countertenor picked up the phone with a tired 'hello'.

"_Oh, hi Rachel. What's going on?"_ She heard Kurt yawn slightly and turned to look at the clock. Hmm, it was only six thirty, meaning he'd gotten back about a half hour ago, herself only about fifteen minutes ago. She never thought she'd see the day where shopping actually resulted in Kurt being _tired_.

"I just called to let you guys know I can't make it to the movies today," she answered, her voice still sounding happy and cheery. Her smile faltered slightly when she heard a sigh on the other end, but refused to go away.

"_Oh great, you and Blaine both!"_ he moaned into the receiver.

"Blaine can't make it?" she asked. "I thought he said he could."

"_Yeah, but he said his parents needed him to help out with something at home, and he couldn't get out of it. He wouldn't tell me what though. I swear, sometimes I think I hardly know him. It's like every day I learn that I just know one _less_ thing about him. I've never even been to his house, or met his parents. I mean, sure, he's always at Dalton during the school year, but in all this time during the summer… still, never_. _All I know is what he told my dad – that his dad isn't entirely supportive of his sexuality._"

Rachel blinked as Kurt finished up his small, miniature rant. She always thought Kurt and Blaine knew everything about each other. They always seemed like the perfect couple, no secrets.

"I'm sure he has a reason, Kurt," she offered softly. Blaine didn't seem like the type of person to play Kurt or anything, and plus, she'd seen the way he'd look at Kurt. Hell, he'd even come along to some things Rachel could _tell_ he didn't like, just to hang out with Kurt and follow him around like a brown-eyed puppy. "It's Blaine we're talking about – he loves you."

"_Oh, I know. Still, it's just… somewhat annoying sometimes. But hey, everyone has their secrets, and I trust him no matter how irritated I may get. Well, anyways, changing the topic away from my miniscule relationship issues, why can't you go?"_

Rachel grinned once again. "Oh, nothing. Just… family business to attend to, you know."

"_Oh, c'mon Rachel! Just tell me!"_ Rachel laughed at Kurt's slightly whiny voice.

"Okay, okay. But you can't tell anyone else, except for Finn of course." When she received an affirmative she quickly exclaimed, "My dads are taking me to meet my new baby brother!"

"_Wait, _**what**?" he nearly yelled. Rachel pulled the phone back slightly for a second. "_They're adopting a kid? Right before senior year? Wow, talk about an age gap."_ He muttered the last part, making Rachel laugh again.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Well, he's six, so it's only an eleven-year gap, not seventeen. His name is Michael, and we're going to go and see him tomorrow at that boys' home not too far from where I live; that's why I can't go."

"_Well, call either me or Finn when you get back! And see if you can get a picture of him,"_ Kurt requested, and she could practically hear the other boy smile over the phone. So, Kurt liked kids. Well, _that_ was news to her. Who would've thought….

"Will do Kurt!"

The two said their good nights after talking for a bit longer, Rachel dropping the phone next to her bed afterwards. She smiled as changed into her pajamas, brushed her teeth, and combed her hair, as she did every night. When she crawled back into bed, she glanced at her phone one more time, seeing one new text.

**From: x Finn x**

**Sweet dreams Rach! Kurt told me bout the bby bruther, sounds awsme! Love you.**

Rachel smiled softly at the message, holding her phone next to her as she drifted into sleep.

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><p>"Rachel, honey, time to go!" Rachel stopped her daily vocal exercises as she heard her papa call up the stairs to her. She grinned, calling back a 'coming' as she raced down the stairs, pocketing her cell phone. She <em>did<em> promise Kurt a picture.

Climbing into the backseat of the family car, she leaned her head forward between the two front seats, both of her dads smiling at her before turning to face the road. The car ride only took about fifteen minutes, Rachel singing along to the Broadway classics her dad had put on a travel CD for her. She kept fidgeting whenever she wasn't singing, and quickly hopped out of the car once they parked in the driveway of a house a bit smaller than her own.

"Calm down, honey!" Hiram chuckled. "He's not going anywhere." She slowed down, waiting for her dads to ring the doorbell. After a moment, she heard the call of 'coming' shortly followed by the shouts of children. After around half a minute, the door opened up, and a woman with blond hair stuck her head out.

"Ahh, you must be the Berry family! My name's Katherine Greenwell. Michael's just in the other room – the boys are all just finishing up their lunch now. Come on in." She stepped back from the door, opening it up all the way for the family of three to make their way in. Rachel looked around the room, hearing a large number of voices and even some laughter coming from the other room. They weren't just the high voices of children either; no, some of the voices were deeper. It must have been a boys' home for all ages, not just younger ones.

"If you'd just wait here for one second," Mrs. Greenwell said, walking into the other room, calling out a name Rachel couldn't make out over the sounds of laughter and what seemed like arguing. Looking around at the mostly-blank walls (some pictures had been tapped up to one of the walls on the far side of the room – photographs, crayon drawings, and even a few letters) Rachel was glad to see that it didn't seem like one of those depressing buildings that she'd read about in stories. It seemed fairly nice, in fact. Not as good as having your own home, of course, but good considering.

"Come on, Michael." Rachel looked up at the sound of that voice. She _knew_ that voice. "They just want to meet-." The voice stopped when the source looked up at the family in front of him, brown eyes wide and even a bit… scared, if Rachel was reading him right.

"B-blaine? What are you doing here?" she asked, completely shocked. The boy with him – '_he must be Michael_'– clung to the seventeen-year-old's leg that he was hiding behind, not seeming to ever want to let go.

"Uh, hi Rach." He smiled what was obviously a nervous smile at her, his voice just a bit higher and softer than usual. Not enough that people who didn't know him would be able to notice, but Rachel had seen a lot of him over the summer, seeing as she was with Kurt most times that she wasn't with Finn. She just continued to look at him with wide eyes, Leroy and Hiram glancing between the two in confusion.

"Dads, this is Kurt's boyfriend, Blaine," she informed them, not once taking her questioning gaze off of her friend. "Blaine, these are my dads, Leroy and Hiram." She waved in the general direction of them, and watched Blaine nod quickly at the two. He then crouched down and whispered a few words in the six-year-old's ear before picking him up gently.

"Mikey, these are the Berrys. They're very nice people. Can you say hello to them for me?" Blaine asked softly, pointing in the direction of the family a few feet away from him with his left hand, holding Michael up with his right. The six-year-old picked his head up from Blaine's neck – where he had buried it the moment Blaine picked him up – and turned his head shyly towards them.

Rachel forgot about Blaine for a moment as she smiled at the little boy and waved softly. He looked so adorable. He had shaggy, dark brown hair with big, blue eyes. He seemed small for six years, and from the expression on his face and the way he reacted to seeing them, Rachel knew almost certainly that he was very shy. Well, she'd be able to fix that, of course. He'd be set to perform in no time!

"Hi," he whispered quietly, looking down at the ground, one of his small hands gripping at Blaine's left tightly. She watched Blaine smile and take a few more steps towards them. Whispering a few more quiet words to the boy in his arms, Blaine managed to pry his left hand free, and hand Michael over to Leroy with Hiram standing right behind his husband, hand placed lovingly on his husband's shoulders.

Blaine smiled, and turned to walk back into what must have been the kitchen when Rachel called back out to him.

"Blaine, wait!" Cursing silently, he turned around and placed a tired smile on his face.

"Yes Rachel?"

"It's just… why are you here?" Her voice was quiet, concerned. Motherly, even. She watched Blaine's gaze move towards his feet, one hand holding his other arm, and took in his appearance. He looked so… tired. His clothes looked worn and his hair wasn't gelled over like normal, the curls framing his face softly. He had bags under his eyes, and he just looked… small. Well, not height-small, because she already knew he was, but _metaphorically_ small. He also seemed younger. Originally, Rachel had found it hard to believe that Blaine was only going to be a junior. In fact, she had thought he was a senior _last year_. But looking at him now, she didn't find it so hard to believe.

"I live here, Rachel."

Rachel glanced back at Blaine's face as he spoke. His voice was so soft, quiet and… somewhat weak if she were to be honest with herself. She glanced back at her fathers, who were talking softly to Michael, who was now smiling softly even though he was still avoiding their gazes. Mrs. Greenwell had returned, and was looking at Rachel and Blaine curiously.

Turning back to Blaine, she asked, "do you think we could go for a walk?" Blaine turned to Mrs. Greenwell. She nodded, and Blaine nervously smiled at Rachel before grabbing her wrist and pulling her outside.

The two were silent for as they walked a few blocks toward the park Rachel had seen on the way over. After a while, Rachel finally spoke up.

"What did you mean when you said that you live there?" she asked, softly.

"I mean, Rachel, that I live there in every sense of the word. I live in a boys' home. That's where I sleep, where I wake up, where I eat. It's where I am when I'm not with Kurt, the Warblers, or at Dalton. _That's_ what I mean." His voice was harsh and cold, shocking Rachel. She'd rarely ever seen Blaine not acting dapper and charming, but she knew from Kurt that there were a few times when Blaine would get upset. But Kurt had never told her of a time when his voice ever sounded so… cold.

"So, are you an… orphan or something?" Rachel bit her lip after the words came out. She didn't mean to be so rude, but she just didn't _get_ it and she just _had_ to. She didn't like not knowing things. And hadn't Kurt said Blaine had a _family_ thing to do?

"No. Well, in a sense, yes." She looked at Blaine, who was looking straight ahead as he walked a few more paces before sitting down at a bench on the outskirts of the park. He glanced at her and motioned her over with a – very unenthusiastic, might she add – wave of his hand. Slightly hesitant, she sat down next to Blaine, placing a hand comfortingly over his. Blaine turned from where he was glancing off at the distance again to smile weakly at Rachel for a moment for turning back.

"It was when I was in the eighth grade… just three weeks before my fourteenth birthday, in fact. I… I came out to my parents," Blaine started. His voice was soft, like one of a child afraid to tell an adult about something that scared them. "I knew that they didn't like anything homosexual. They didn't let me dress in what they thought was a 'gay' way, they didn't let me do anything they considered 'feminine'… and they were likely some of the most homophobic people I'd ever had the displeasure of knowing." He let out a shaky breath and a short, soulless laugh. Rachel squeezed his hand softly in encouragement, a sad smile on her face. She had a feeling where this was going, and figured that they would _both_ be crying by the time his story was done, not just Blaine, who already seemed close to tears.

"I told them at the end of dinner one night. I'd been tr-ying to for weeks, but didn't know when, or how." As he spoke, his voice cracked and he squeezed his eyes shut. "I just… blurted it out when my mom got up to clean the table. Just said 'I'm gay'. My mom dropped the plate in her hand onto the floor, and the pieces just shattered, no one making a move to clean it. It felt like they were staring at me for hours. It's stupid, but I felt like the shattering of the plate was about to be a metaphor for my life, whether they killed me or just made it miserable. My mom was the first to speak. She started whispering to me that I didn't know, that I probably just didn't like any of the girls at my school. But my dad just told me to get out.

"I spent that night sleeping outside in the backyard. It was cold seeing as it was only November, but I didn't have any friends' houses to go to – the school _knew_ I was gay, even if I'd never said it. And they hated me for it. And so, the next morning, I found out that my parents had called a social worker. Told them that they refused to have a… a _fag_," he spat the word out like venom, "for a son.

"He tried to convince my parents that it wasn't something they could change their mind about, and that it was likely a terrible mistake that they would always regret making, but they wouldn't hear it. And I knew that they _wouldn't _regret it, no matter how much I wanted them to. When I think about that day, I just… I keep seeing what their faces looked like right before I climbed into the social worker's car. My mom had tears running down her face. But she wasn't sad that I was leaving. No, she was upset about the fact that she didn't know where she'd gone wrong, how I'd ended up the way I did. How much it would affect her social standings when people found out that their son – or, ex-son I guess – was _gay_.

"But my dad… he was just glaring at me. His eyes were so… cold… and they actually made me feel scared. I mean, yeah, he'd never hit me before. But at that moment, I wasn't sure what he would have done if the social worker wasn't around. And the thought of what he still _could _do horrified me. They'd packed most of my stuff up into two suitcases, and I got in the car. I was taken to a boys' home, and moved to this one when I got a scholarship to Dalton the summer before my freshman year."

"I didn't think Dalton gave scholarships," Rachel muttered to herself, but Blaine heard and laughed a broken laugh.

"They don't normally. It's more of a charity thing – give _unfortunate souls_ the chance at a _great_ education to prevent them from turning into _druggies_ and _criminals_," he spat out, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Tears were streaming down his face now, and Rachel felt her own falling too. "I wouldn't even be there if it wouldn't help me later. Because, Dalton's a great school, good on a college application….

"I've only got two more years, though. After my senior year, I can find my own place. Join you and Kurt in New York, just like we planned." He turned to Rachel, smiling weakly. "I took up a job after school at Dalton when I first started there, and I only stopped just a few weeks before I met Kurt. Sometimes Mrs. Greenwell pays me to do some extra chores around the house too. I've also had a few other part-time jobs over the year. The money's not enough to pay for a full tuition... but Dalton's good on a college application, so maybe I can get a scholarship…"

By now, Blaine was looking back out at the park, the sound of children's laughter making him smile softly. But as he spoke, it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself rather than Rachel. "I can get there, Rachel. And this part of my life won't matter anymore. I'll work hard, get a scholarship to _any_ school in New York, I don't care which one. I don't even care what I'd have to major in, if it's for music, Performing Arts, hell, I'd go to one and major in Literature if I have to. But I'm **going**to New York, Rachel. This changes _nothing_."

His voice was cold again, and Rachel just sat there, stunned. Never had she expected this to be how Blaine's life was. She had just figured Blaine was pretty well off… Kurt had told him his father wasn't the most accepting, but she'd always thought he was well-off. After all, most people who went to Dalton were pretty rich and had fairly good lives. But…

"Does Kurt know, Blaine?"

Blaine froze up at that, and she instantly had her answer. "You have to tell him, Blaine. He loves you. It's not right to hide something like this from him. Maybe he can find a way to help-"

"I don't _**want**_ help Rachel!" Blaine shouted, standing up. A few parents turned to look at them briefly, before turning back to their kids when they saw nothing dangerous or violent happening. "You don't get it! I didn't tell him – I didn't tell _anyone_ because I don't want them to treat me like a… like a charity case! Do you know how hard it was for me to accept that scholarship to Dalton? It made me feel like I couldn't do anything without the help of others. Like I need to _rely_ on free things I get from people. But I don't, and I'm sick of people thinking I do. Sometimes I want to get through things _on my own_.

"I live in a boys' home. Oh well. It doesn't change who I am," he finished, sitting back down and sighing. Rachel placed a hand on his shoulder, pulling it back when he stiffened.

"Exactly. It doesn't change who you are. And Kurt will _know_ that, Blaine. _I_ know that, and I don't even know you _nearly_ as well. He _loves_ you, Blaine. As much as you love him, hell, maybe more! He wouldn't care about this," she smiled softly before her voice changed from soft and comforting to firm and instructing. "But you're lying to him right now, Blaine. You told him you had to do something with your family toda-"

"They _are_ my family, Rachel," he said softly, his forehead in his hands. "Maybe not by blood, but they're my family. Sure, they don't stick around forever, but they're still my family. I care about them like a family. I'm the oldest one there, Rachel. It's my job to take care of them. And I couldn't go to the movies today because Mr. Greenwell had to go out of town for the day, and asked me to help his wife watch over the others. I wasn't lying." His voice was cold as steel, and yet full of emotion at the same time. Rachel softened slightly before sighing.

"But you're not telling the whole truth, either."

Blaine stayed silent at that, and Rachel patted his shoulder before standing up. "C'mon, we'd better get back. I want to have a chance to meet Michael before we have to leave." Blaine smiled softly at her, his eyes red-rimmed and face puffy, but the small smile didn't seem fake to her, at least.

"He's a good kid, Michael," he muttered so softly Rachel almost hadn't heard him. "He lost his parents a year ago, and he never really talks much. But he's sweet, likes to draw a lot. He used to try to eat the crayons, though." He laughed at the memory, shaking his head. "He was supposed to go to kindergarten last year, but the school year started only a month after his parents died. He didn't _ever _talk then. So now he has to be a year behind in school. But he's smart, _really_ smart. I don't doubt that he'll be able to skip a grade one day, catch back up to the people his own age."

"You really know those kids, don't you?" she asked softly, voice full of affection.

"I told you, they're my family. When I'm not with Kurt or the Warblers, I'm with them. I make it my place to learn everything about them, because a lot of them have problems, Rachel. They're not bad, but most of them have been through traumatic experiences. Like Jake, Jake has PTSD, and he gets flashbacks a lot when they start roughhousing. And Louis, he's got pretty bad anger management problems. I have to know them, I have to know how to calm them down. How to help them. Because it hurts to see them in pain. They're my family, the only one I've got, and I'm not going to just take that for granted."

Rachel didn't say anything, just smiled and squeezed Blaine's hand as they arrived at the door to the boys' home. Blaine walked up the steps and opened the door, walking in with Rachel not far behind. She immediately walked over to her dads, Blaine making his way back down a hallway that she guessed led to his room, hands tucked into his pocket. Leroy was sitting on an old, faded couch, Michael having fallen asleep in his lap. Hiram stood up from his place beside him, and put a finger to his lips as he walked over to Rachel and whispered quietly.

"Rachel, we need to talk to you."

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><p><strong>Authors Note:<strong> Well then. That's likely the longest chapter I've ever written. But the only place I would've been able to split it was when Rachel saw Blaine... and that would've made it short. Plus, I'm aiming to write longer chapters now. I mean, I did this in a good 2-3 hours of straight typing. So with any luck, it won't be too hard to make them longer.

Anyways, lemme know what you think, because I honestly very much appreciate constructional criticism~ You can't improve if no one tells you what you're doing wrong. Or, what you're doing that could be _improved_.

**EDIT**: Heh. I added like, 500-600 words to that. Didn't mean to. I didn't change any information though, just changed detail and I _think_ I got most of the grammatical errors. If not, let me know _anything_ you see, and I'll fix it.

~Josh


	2. Chapter 2

**Title**:Nothing's So Heavy as a Secret

**Main Pairings**: Kurt/Blaine, Rachel/Finn

**Summary**: Blaine has secrets. Kurt _knows_ that Blaine has secrets. And those secrets are revealed when Rachel receives some exciting news from her fathers. Will the life Blaine has built come crumbling down when she finds out, or will the Berry's be able to help him? And what will happen when Kurt finds out? Sometimes, one secret getting out is all it takes to break someone.

**Rating**: T

**Word Count**: 5,215 - fanfiction 5,195 - word... this is really bothering me that they're different...

**Disclaimer**: Glee is created by Ryan Murphy, I don't own it, it's on Fox, blah blah blah. I mean, why would I be writing fan fiction if I owned it? The only things I suppose I own are the people who have _not_ been on Glee that show up - like Michael. But yeah, Glee, not mine.

**Beta'd By**: themuse19

**Authors Note**: First of all, MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! I finished this yesterday, but decided to wait for today to upload it.

Also, originally I wasn't going to use quotes every chapter, but I kind of want to now... it's fun to look for them. Plus, look, it's by Robert Frost! His name is in perfect time for the season~ If only it'd really snow here... Major snowstorm that knocks the power out for Halloween, yes, snow for Christmas, ooh, of course not!

And the story may seem slow right now, but I'm hoping to get into the school year fairly soon, at which time it will be easier to write as I have a base to write off of (the episodes) for some things. Also, I really just want to get out of writing in Rachel's point of view... I don't think I can really write her that well, to be honest. But the next chapter starts with Kurt's POV, so YAY!

I hope everyone has a very merry Christmas! Or if your Jewish, happy 6th night of Hanukkah! Or whatever other holiday you may celebrate!

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><p>"We dance round in a ring and suppose, but the secret sits in the middle and knows."<p>

-Robert Frost

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><p>"Y-you can't be serious?" Rachel asked once they got outside. Her mouth was hanging slightly open, eyes wide. Her dads looked at each other worriedly before looking back at Rachel.<p>

"Do you not want this, Rachel? Your dad and I just thought-" Hiram stopped talking when her daughter raised her hand and shook her head.

"No, no... I do, it's just..." Rachel leaned slightly against the family car. "Wow. Do you- do you think he'd be okay with it?" she asked nervously.

"We were hoping you'd have the answer to that," Hiram admitted sheepishly.

"Well... there's no way to know but to ask him." She moved off from the car and went to make her way inside when her papa placed a hand on her shoulder, holding her back. She went to complain, but he beat her to it.

"Not now, Rachel. Mrs. Greenwell told me he had to help her out with the boys today. She said that she would talk to him tonight, but don't you think he might not be able to do that if you tell him? He'd be distracted."

Rachel sighed, knowing they were right. But she was excited, and she wanted to tell _somebody_. Maybe she could call Ku- No, no she couldn't. Blaine didn't want him to know. Ooh, why did _she_ have to find out? Yes, she _loved_ being trusted by Blaine (even if he kind of _had_ to tell her since she'd already figured out half of it), but she was pretty awful at keeping secrets. Mentally shaking her head, she asked her dads a question.

"What about Michael?"

"Blaine's almost seventeen, isn't he? I'm sure we can manage taking care of them both," Hiram said, wrapping an arm around his husband's face. Leroy had a smile on his face, leaning into the grip of his partner.

Rachel smiled at her fathers. It'd take some getting used to, having to share the attention, but she was sure she could do it." That was, until –

"But Blaine may have to share your room for a bit."

Groaning, she opened her mouth to complain, only to hear the sound of the car doors shutting. Her fathers smiled at each other, having known exactly how their daughter would react.

Hands bawled into fists, Rachel pulled the back door open with more force than necessary, slamming it after she slid into her seat. Leroy sighed, and Hiram patted his leg affectionately before putting the car in reverse. He began to count down in his head; _'Five, four, three, two, o-'_

"Can't Blaine just sleep on the couch or something?" Rachel whined.

"No, Rachel. You've got a pull-out bed under yours; I'm sure he would be much more comfortable there until we can set him up his own room." Hiram's voice was stern, and - unfortunately for her - Rachel knew there was no way to change his mind.

"Fine," Rachel groaned. "Wait, where's Michael sleeping?"

"We've set up a bed in our room, but that old office besides our room is his once he feels comfortable. Blaine will be in that guest room across from yours, but that furniture hasn't been touched in years. We need to make it feel homier first," Leroy informed her.

"When are they coming?" Rachel asked.

"Blaine's set to come whenever he's ready, which may take a little while, Rachel. He's been living there for two and a half years now - he's close to some of those boys. But we've got an appointment to bring Michael home on Tuesday." Rachel nodded her head at her dads before turning her head to look out the window.

Tuesday. It was Saturday now. Well, late Saturday, it was four forty-seven now. Her walk with Blaine lasted longer than she had thought. The conversation played over in her head as she mechanically got out of the car and went up to her room without saying anything. Her fathers watched her go with a worried expression on their faces.

Only about one minute after Rachel sat down on her bed, she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and accepted the call without looking at the caller ID.

_"Rachel, I've tried calling you three times now!"_

Rachel's position stiffened as she heard Kurt's voice on the other line. "Oh, hey Kurt!" she said in a cheery voice. She just hoped her nervousness didn't show. "How was the movie?"

_"Fine, fine, but seriously, how'd it go?"_

"Uh, good! Yeah, it went great!" Her phone beeped.

_"What was that?"_

"Hold on, my dad's texting me... he uh, went out shopping and needs to know what I want, hold on." The name on her phone caused her to bite her lip, and she felt bad about lying to Kurt. But when she opened the text, she was glad she hadn't told him the truth.

**From: Blaine**

**Don't tell anyone. Please.**

She sighed, sending back a simple 'okay' before putting the phone back up to her ear.  
>"Sorry about that."<p>

"It's okay. So, what's he like?" he asked, holding out the 'o'. Rachel smiled. Surely she could describe Michael without mentioning Blaine.  
>"He's adorable, but really shy. You should have seen him! He's so shy, and he just kept trying to hide in Bla-" she paused for a second. Shit shit shit... "In <em>Blake's<em> arms. Sorry, forgot his name for a second," she offered in explanation for his pause.

_"Okay... who's Blake?"_

"One of the older boys there," she answered honestly. Why lie when she didn't have to? The more truths, the easier it would be to remember it all. And the easier it is to remember, the less likely she would be to spill Blaine's secret - even though she'd already come close.

_'Calm down, Rachel, you can do this. Just _relax_ and don't think of Blaine.'_

_"Ahh. Well, did you get a picture of... Mikey was it?"_ Rachel bit her lip again, the mantra she had just put in her head failing as she remembered _Blaine_ calling him Mikey.

"Yes, well, Michael, but Blake called him Mikey, so I guess it's his nickname." Telling the truth while replacing Blaine's name might work, so long as she doesn't slip up on the name. "But, he's _adorable_ Kurt. He's so _small_ for six, and his eyes are big and blue, it's so cute!" she squealed. "My dads are suppose to go meet with the social worker again on Tuesday; then they can take Michael home," _'and Blaine might show up any time between now and a month from now,'_ she added silently to herself.

_"Wow, that's soon,"_ Kurt mumbled.

"Yes, well, apparently my dads have been planning this for a while. And somehow, I didn't notice them begin to convert that old office into a bedroom."

_"Well, no offence or anything Rachel - you know I love you - but if something doesn't relate to you, you seem to take a little longer figuring it out,"_ he joked, holding out the 'i' in little.

"Yes, well, either way he's coming home Tuesday," she huffed.

_"Nervous?"_

"About what?" Rachel asked, honestly curious.

_"Well, I mean, you_ will_ have to share your dads' attention and everything. I know how hard it is for you to share the spotlight,"_ he teased.

"Yes, well, I'm going to be spending my senior year teaching him all the secrets to becoming an aspiring star. Besides, I'm sure that my fathers would never be able to replace me; I'm too unique for that to ever be a possibility," '_and I'll be spending the time when my fathers _are_ with Michael trying to figure out the Blaine none of us knows'_.

Rachel shut her eyes and held back a sigh, wondering when her life had gotten so confusing. She hated keeping secrets, especially from her friends. It was probably why she was so terrible at it. And she'd always thought that Blaine was… well, perfect. In fact, everyone had. Whenever she saw Blaine, he was dapper, charming, and all around… perfect. There was no other way to describe it. She'd always thought that Blaine had the perfect life, near-perfect family, not to mention she'd always thought he was rich like most of the Dalton kids. _Kurt's_ family had plenty of money, and yet they _still_ had to scrape together the funds for Dalton.

But now she knew differently, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to.

"_-chel. __**Rachel**_!"

Rachel squeaked slightly as she heard her name being shouted down the line. "Sorry Kurt, just thinking about how much fun Michael and I will be having!" The smile on her face as she said that was one of complete nervousness and uncertainty. She placed a hand on her necklace – the one with Finn's name on it – and sent a silent thanks to God that Kurt couldn't see her face right now.

"_Okay, well, don't scare the kid off, Berry,"_ he chuckled. _"Let him warm up to you first; there's too much of you to lay on him all at once."_

"I'm going to take that as a complement because yes, I do have a lot of talent which may be too much for some people to handle. It may scare them into never performing again for fear of being compared to me," she shot back, her smile becoming more relaxed. Bantering with Kurt, _that_ she was use to. It was normal, which she really needed. She heard the quiet sounds of talking from the other end of the line and waited for Kurt to speak again.

"_Well, Finn's here, nagging me to let him talk to you. So here you go, and _please_ make sure you tell him to give me back my phone when you two are done."_

"Of course, Kurt, but I will not be held responsible if he forgets anyway," she joked. She heard Kurt laugh, followed by a bit of shuffling as Kurt handed the phone over to her boyfriend.

"_How are you, Rach?"_ Rachel smiled at the sound of Finn's deep voice – it had always seemed to calm her down.

"I'm good Finn. Excited. A bit nervous – I mean, I've never even babysat anyone before, but I'm sure I'll do great," she replied honestly. She was nervous for more than just that, but Finn didn't need to know.

"_I'm sure you'll do great Rachel. And if you ever need help, me and Kurt are always available."_ Rachel held back a laugh as she heard Kurt's distinctive shout of _'hey!'_ when Finn offered up the assistance of the two of them.

"It's Kurt and _I_, Finn, not me and Kurt. But thank you very much for the offer, and tell Kurt not to worry. I'll be _fine_. Not to mention my dads are likely going to be watching over him more than I am, and I've got-" she stopped before she could say Blaine's name. What was this, the _third_ time in one conversation she almost let out his secret? She clenched her teeth together.

"_Got who, Rachel?"_ Finn asked curiously, before his voice turned nervous. _"Y-you're not dating someone else, are you?" _Before Rachel could respond, she heard Kurt call his step-brother an idiot and Finn uttering a quiet 'ow', leading her to assume that Kurt had likely slapped him on the back of the head.

"No, sorry Finn. I was just trying to remember my neighbor's name – she offered to help out any time too."

"_You know your neighbors' names, Rachel… you said you use to perform for them all the time…" _'_Of all the times Finn had to _actually_ pay attention to what I was saying…._'

"I know, Finn, I'm just tired and the name slipped my mind. But I'm not cheating on you, Finn, I thought we went over this. We've both made that mistake, and it's not happening again. So please, let's just drop this conversation." The doorbell rang. "My dad must be back with the groceries; I have to go. Bye Finn! I love you!" she rushed out, remembering the excuse she'd used for the text message.

Running downstairs to check the door, she was shocked to see Blaine talking to Hiram, a suitcase handle in his hand as he pulled it into the house.

"Blaine?" The warbler looked up at her, the exhaustion clear in his eyes. "I didn't think you'd be here so soon." She honestly _was_ surprised. The way he'd talked about those other boys that day… she didn't think he'd leave them so soon.

"Yeah, well, there's not a lot of space in that house, and there are a lot of mouths to feed. It puts a lot of strain on Mrs. Greenwell to have to take care of everyone," he muttered, looking behind him at his bag. "So I decided to get out as soon as I could, and offered to come back and help out whenever she needs it."

"How'd you get here, Blaine?" Leroy asked, hoping the boy – who, he supposed, was now his son – hadn't walked. Blaine simply pointed outside to a large, black truck.

"My friend David gave it to me last year. His family's loaded, and so he offered it to me when he got a new one for his birthday – he didn't know my whole situation, but he knew that I was only in Dalton on scholarship and figured I had some financial problems I guess." He shrugged as he finished his tale, pulling his suitcase in front of him. "I hope it's not a bother to you for me to be here now. I can always just go back-"

"Blaine, Blaine, it's fine, really." Hiram smiled, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder, who merely shrugged it off. Rachel watched her papa's smile falter for a moment as his hand dropped back to his side.

"Rachel, why don't you take Blaine up to your room, okay?" Leroy suggested, glancing at his daughter before turning to speak to Blaine. "It's only temporary until we can fix up the guest room for you, but I hope it will be okay for the time being."

"Of course, Mr. Berry, thank you," Blaine nodded, still not looking up. He hadn't since Rachel had walked down the stairs.

"Blaine, we're not going to expect you to refer to us as your dads, but you don't need to be so formal with us," Leroy said, smiling softly. "At least call me Leroy."

Blaine nodded, shuffling his feet a bit. "Okay, Leroy."

"And I'm Hiram, Blaine." Another nod. "Okay, well, Rachel can take you up to her room and set up the pull-out bed. And don't worry, it's very comfortable – I use to have to sleep on it when Rachel would have a nightmare."

"Papa!" Rachel squealed, moving to cover Hiram's mouth. Leroy chuckled, and Blaine just continued to look at his feet. Biting her lip briefly, Rachel moved to grab Blaine's arm, stopping when he flinched away.

"C'mon Blaine, once we get you set up we can go hang out in the theater room, watch a few musicals. Kurt said you like those, right?" she suggested. Blaine just nodded again, and Rachel sighed, grabbing his bag from him.

"Thank you Hiram, Leroy, Rachel," he muttered softly. "I really appreciate this."

"It's no problem, Blaine. We don't know what happened, and we won't ask, but we know you don't deserve it. From what I've heard, you're a great kid, and we'd be glad to call you our son – that is, if you'd let us." Leroy smiled at Blaine, gaining no response but a shrug of his shoulders as he turned to follow Rachel upstairs.

* * *

><p>"So, that's everything!" Rachel closed the drawer of her dresser, having cleaned it out for Blaine to put some of his things in. The rest was hanging in her closet, plenty of space still left considering he mostly just wore his Dalton uniform.<p>

"Now, we can either go on a tour of the house, or watch a movie, ooh! Maybe we can-"

"Rachel, would you mind if I just went to sleep?" Blaine interrupted. He looked into her eyes for the first time since he'd gotten there, his brown eyes seeming much more dull than they usually did.

"O-of course, Blaine. Are you okay?" Her voice was full of concern, and much more quiet than usual. Blaine flashed her a weak, half-smile before answering.

"Yeah, I'm just tired. Some of the boys had a hard day today, and Mrs. Greenwell had to run out to do some shopping, so I was left to watch them," he admitted, not really wanting to talk about his life in the boys' home. He'd never had anyone to talk to about it before, and he was honestly somewhat scared to.

"Well, just go ahead and get some rest. I'm going to meet Finn at his house around two tomorrow; do you want to come?" she offered, but Blaine simply shook his head.

"No, no. I don't want Kurt to wonder why I went over with you. Plus, I'm fairly certain he said he was going to see Mercedes, and I know they haven't been hanging out as much as they use to."

"So… you're really not going to ever tell any of them?" she asked softly. If Blaine didn't want to tell anyone, she wasn't sure how long she would be able to keep his secret. And if she did, Blaine might get really angry at her and leave, and Kurt would likely never forgive her. To her disappointment, Blaine shook his head. He seemed to be doing that a lot that night – well, that and nodding.

"No, Rachel, it's none of their business." His voice was cold and hard again, just like it had been at the park. "Like I told you earlier, it's only for two years. When I graduate from college, I won't have to burden you guys any more, and it will have never mattered how I've been living the past three years of my life."

"Blaine, you are _**not**_ a burden on us," Rachel told him sternly. "Don't even _think_ that. And it _will_ matter, Blaine, because it helped to shape you into who you are. It's nothing to be ashamed of that your parents didn't wa-"

"Rachel, please, just… just don't tell anyone, okay? Maybe I'll tell them, one day, but for now, no. If you ever want to have anyone over, let me know and I'll go hang out at the boys' home if I'm not at Dalton." Blaine sighed, lying down on the pull-out bed he had set up the moment he'd entered the room.

"So, you're going to stay at Dalton then?"

The question shocked Blaine, who picked his head up to face Rachel, who was lying on her stomach on her own bed, head propped up on her hands. "Of course I am! Unless they take back the scholarship, I'm staying at Dalton. I _need_ to. I told you, Rachel, Dalton is my ticket to New York." He was glaring at the girl who was now legally his sister. Rachel shrunk back a bit, dropping her arms flat on the bed.

"Well, it's just that… Kurt told me he really wanted you there, and I've heard him trying to convince you… and you'd be a great addition to the New Dire-"

"**RACHEL**!" he shouted, hoping his adoptive parents didn't hear him. "I am _**not**_ going to change my life around for some stupid Glee club competition!" By now, he was all but growling, and Rachel was staring at him with wide eyes. "I love Glee, yes, but it's not the end of the world for us to be on different teams! It's not like I'm going to steal your ideas and secrets _just_ because we're living together. And Kurt would understand. I understood when he left Dalton, and he understands that I want to stay.

"My friends are there, Rachel. It's _safer_ there. I get enough homophobia _without_ going to McKinley. Did you know that Kurt and I have to be careful just to _hold hands_ on a date, because we don't want someone to start a scene and ruin the day for us. I got beat up in eighth grade after a dance because I was there with a boy I wasn't even _dating_. I've got enough on my plate _without_ dealing with all of that."

Rachel looked at her hands as Blaine spoke, unable to look him in the eye. His voice was so harsh, and his words made her feel bad for even suggesting it. But still…

"Blaine, you don't _need_ to have that much on your plate now. You don't have to pay your way through college. My – no, _our_ dads won't mind. And three years of Dalton will look good on an application; one year of public school wouldn't ruin your chances.

"And you'd still be able to see your friends… just maybe not every day. Kurt still goes to Dalton to visit you sometimes, and I'm sure they would let you do it, too. And the homophobia… it's gotten better since Kurt came back. Sure, it's still there, but it's better. And the New Directions are always there for each other, we'd be able to help if something _did_ happen," she told him, feeling as though she'd countered all of Blaine's arguments against transferring. But when she looked at Blaine's face again, he was glaring at her.

"From what I've heard, the New Directions attack each other more than help each other. I'm pretty sure none of you tried to help Kurt until things went too far, no matter how much he tries to tell me you did. And I know what happened the first year of Glee, with all the baby drama; hell, I know about you and Kurt fighting over Finn!

"If you fight that much over _relationship_ problems, I don't really think I'd be able to ask for help if I needed it – which I _don't_. And besides, you guys are so… loose. I _like_ having those rules for the Warblers, even when they _do_ get annoying. It stops us from fighting; it keeps us in line."

"But Blaine-." He held up his hand, efficiently cutting her off.

"No, Rachel. I'm done talking about this tonight. I'm _tired_." Rachel looked into his eyes, seeing once again just how tired he really did look. "I just want to go to sleep, and head back to the boys' home tomorrow to make sure Liam slept okay; he has nightmares a lot. I may be gone when you wake up, but I'll have my phone on me if you need me." Blaine lay down entirely on his bed, having turned to face away from Rachel.

"Blaine…."

"Goodnight Rachel." His voice left no room for arguments. Sighing, Rachel got up from her bed and headed towards the theater room – she figured she might as well watch something, seeing as it was only six.

* * *

><p>When the door shut behind Rachel, Blaine rolled onto his back and looked up at the ceiling. In truth, he didn't think he'd be getting much sleep tonight.<p>

He knew that Rachel couldn't keep a secret. One of the first things Kurt had ever told him about her was that she didn't know how to keep her mouth shut. All he could do was hope she would be able to do it just this once. He'd be at Dalton most of the time for the school year, and he'd likely be spending most of his free time at the boys' home still – that much wouldn't change. He's just be having dinner here and sleeping in her room for the time being….

Well, his stuff being in her room sure was a _large_ reminder he was there. He began to wonder – not for the first time – if it was a bad idea to come here. But every year, more and more boys were starting to live there. If he could get out, he needed to. He hadn't lied when he said that he left so Mrs. Greenwell would have more money to take care of the others. Even if it was just one less mouth to feed, it was still something.

But living here… with Rachel… the same Rachel that was Kurt's _best friend_. The same Rachel that Kurt came to spend the night with at least once every two weeks. The same Rachel dating Kurt's idiot of a stepbrother. Sure, he liked Finn, but he really could be dense sometimes. And no doubt, if he found out, he'd tell Kurt. And from what he'd heard, the quarterback had a bit of a tendency to overreact.

Yet at the same time… he liked being here. He wouldn't call them his dads yet, but Hiram and Leroy seemed to sincerely care for his wellbeing. It was… nice having adults care for you when they didn't have to. Mrs. Greenwell may have cared about Blaine, but it wasn't like she spent time getting to know him much. But Leroy and Hiram seemed to honestly want to know Blaine…

Blaine just wasn't sure _he_ wanted them to know.

* * *

><p>"Daddy?" Rachel asked, walking into the dining room where Leroy was looking over some papers the social worker had asked him to sign. He looked up at her when she entered, smiling as he put the papers down.<p>

"Yes, sweetheart? Is Blaine settled in?" He was slightly worried about his newly-adopted son. From what he'd overheard Rachel say about him before, Blaine was pretty outgoing. Leroy knew that the curly-haired junior was the lead singer of the Warblers, whom Rachel had competed against last year… and from what he remembered, they were very good. He couldn't exactly recall what they'd done, seeing as he was mostly there to watch the New Directions, but he remembered that they'd tied the first time they'd competed, so they _had_ to be good.

"Well, yes, but he is the reason I came to talk to you." Leroy motioned for Rachel to take the seat across from him, which she quickly did, facing her father with what he could only describe as a sorrowful look on her face. "Daddy, I'm really worried about him. He doesn't really even seem to want to _be_ here. He said he's still going to go to Dalton for his senior year, and from the sound of it he's still going to board, too… as much as he can. Which means he may only be home when he gets vacations, if even then!"

"Rachel, that is Blaine's choice…" Leroy told her, frowning at the news despite himself. He may not have expected Blaine to want entirely to join them as a family yet… but he hadn't expected him to want to avoid them either. "If he wants to go to Dalton still, he can. We can't stop him. Well, we could, but that wouldn't be very fair to him. If it's something he likes, he should be allowed to continue it."

"It's not just that though, Dad! He thinks he's a burden on us, even though I _told_ him that we want him here, and he doesn't want to tell his friends about the fact that he's here! Not even Kurt!" Rachel complained.

"You mean none of them know? Not even his Dalton friends?" Leroy asked.

"Not that he's told me, no. He said that he didn't want anyone to treat him like a charity case, and the second he can, he's leaving for New York. Which, I know I'm doing too, but I'm doing it for Broadway! He's doing it to run away!"

"I thought it was always your plan for you, Kurt and Blaine to go to New York for college."

"Well, yes, but-"

"Maybe he wants to go to New York to be with Kurt. And you, of course," he added. Rachel fiddled with her hands on the desk, causing Leroy to raise an eyebrow. "Rachel?"

"I'm just… I'm really worried, Daddy. He doesn't want anyone to know, and you _know_ I can't keep a secret! It's probably the only thing I can't do, and I hate to admit it, but it's true! And he's already resistant enough to being here – if I let it slip he'll probably ask to go back to the boys' home! I can't be the cause of that!" By now, a few tears had rolled down her face, leaving light tear tracks in their wake. Leroy smiled sadly, reaching across to place a hand over the two she had clasped on the table.

"Rachel… you just have to be careful with what you say. It's not your secret to tell, and I know you wouldn't do it on purpose, but if he wants to tell anyone he should do it on his own. No, I don't support his decision on hiding this, but I don't support people hiding in the closet either, and I would still never out them. I know you can do it, sweetheart. Just relax. The more you worry, the more likely you'll be to tell someone," he reasoned to her. Rachel smiled softly at her dad, moving to stand up.

"Okay…"

"What does Blaine want for dinner?" Leroy asked, shifting the incomplete paperwork into a neat pile in front of him.

"I don't think he's very hungry; he said he just wanted to sleep. He wanted to head out to the boys' home to check on one of the boys who has nightmares or something like that first thing in the morning… if you ask me, he should be sleeping in. He just looks so tired and that _can't_ be good for his voice. He could get sick that way, and I do _not _want to be exposed to any illness. The summer's half over; I need to make sure my voice is in tip-top shape before Glee Club starts. And also-"

"Rachel." At the sound of her dad's voice, she stopped her rambling and looked at her father. "I just asked what he wanted for dinner. How about I just order us some pizza tonight, sound good?"

"Okay," she nodded. "Just _make sure_ there's no meat on it. Check it after they give it to you – they've already messed up once, so I don't doubt they will again."

"Of course honey, I'll send in the order. Could you go ask your papa to pick it up? I need to finish up this paperwork as soon as I can…" he mumbled, having gone back to reading the papers once more.

"Okay, Daddy." Rachel stood up and kissed Leroy on the check, heading into the living room where she could hear her papa watching the news. Leroy simply sighed and watched her go before signing his name once more on the paper.

* * *

><p>When Rachel retired to her room at around ten thirty, Blaine had already drifted into a light sleep. She smiled at him once she got in bed, hoping that maybe, just maybe, her new adopted brother would open up to her one day.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Authors Note<strong>: HUZZAH! I know NOTHING about child adoption despite my brother being adopted! But then again, I wasn't actually alive at that point in time, so... but in my magical, magical world, Blaine is allowed to now be living at the Berry's.

Like I said, I've started working on Chapter 3 a bit, so hopefully I'll have that up sooner rather than later. I'm really surprised by how easy this is to write considering I don't have too much planned out... Also, any other couples you want to have in the story, let me know. Because I really have no idea. All I know is that - unfortunately - Sam moving will not change, but he will come back at the same point in time he did in the show. If I don't get any suggestions for pairings, I'll stick with whatever is cannon in the show at that point in time.

So, let me know any suggestions, any grammatical errors, constructional criticism, whatever.

Thanks again to themuse19 for being a wonderful Beta! :D

And I usually respond to reviews in the bottom authors note (here), but this time around I'm just going to answer peoples questions down here, in case anyone else has the same ones. I'll be responding to everyone else in a message, which you don't have to reply to if you don't want to.

Lastly, I want to thank everyone for their support! I've already got nine reviews, twelve favorites, and twenty-eight people following this story. I'm glad you guys are enjoying it!

~Josh


	3. Chapter 3

**Title**:Nothing's So Heavy as a Secret

**Main Pairings**: Kurt/Blaine, Rachel/Finn. Let me know if there are any other couples you'd like to see...?

**Summary**: Blaine has secrets. Kurt _knows_ that Blaine has secrets. And those secrets are revealed when Rachel receives some exciting news from her fathers. Will the life Blaine has built come crumbling down when she finds out, or will the Berry's be able to help him? And what will happen when Kurt finds out? Sometimes, one secret getting out is all it takes to break someone.

**Rating**: T

**Word Count**: 3,687. I'm just going to use the fanfiction one from now on... simpler.

**Disclaimer**: Glee is created by Ryan Murphy, I don't own it, it's on Fox, blah blah blah. I mean, why would I be writing fan fiction if I owned it? The only things I suppose I own are the people who have _not_ been on Glee that show up - like Michael. But yeah, Glee, not mine. Also, those quote things? _Also_ not mine, and whoever wrote them is already written right under it.

**Beta'd By**: themuse19

**Authors Note: **This totally didn't take me forever to put up, pssh, that's all in your head. I uploaded it weeks ago, you just never noticed... pfft. Definitely.

Anyways, so sorry it took so long, and I'm sorry to say I have no idea when I'll have the next one up. Midterms next week and the week after, and I still owe my history and english teachers _tons_ of makeup work! :D I think my history teacher officially hates me! Isn't that EXCITING? :D But, I still owe them both stuff from first quarter... and second quarter ends soon. So that must be my main priority, no matter how much I wish it weren't.

Also, this chapter is shorter. That's because it's mostly just a filler. And I wanted to put Kurt in here, so there. But next chapter will likely be a time jump, getting closer to the school year. So if there's anything you want to happen still during the summer, let me know and I'll consider it, but there's really not very much that can and still relate to the story. I can only think of one thing, which I may or may not put in.

So... here ya go!

* * *

><p>"To know that one has a secret is to know half the secret itself."<p>

-Henry Ward Beecher

* * *

><p>Kurt sighed, dropping his phone onto his bed. It was Monday now, and Blaine seemed to be having to help his family every day since Saturday. He hadn't managed to see him since Thursday, and even though it wasn't really too long, he missed him.<p>

He did have one thing to look forward to, though; Rachel and her dads were bringing home Michael tomorrow. From what Rachel had told both himself and Finn, he sounded like a sweet kid. How she knew some of the information she did puzzled him, seeing as he didn't think you could get to know someone so well in the duration of a few hours, but he didn't focus on that.

"Finn!" Kurt called before hearing the scuttling sounds of feet from the room beside his.

"Aw, c'mon dude, what did I do now?" Finn groaned, opening up the door and dragging his feet as he entered.

"Well, nothing until you called me 'dude'," Kurt said, rolling his eyes at his stepbrother. "I was just wondering if you'd heard from Blaine at all. I haven't seen him since Thursday, and he's been busy since Saturday, so I've hardly even been able to talk to him…"

"Nah, sorry. But you know I don't really talk to him unless he's here. Did you check to see he's not with any of his prep school friends?" Finn asked with a slight shrug. Kurt rolled his eyes.

"It's Dalton, not 'that prep school', Finn. But yes, I did, and they said that they haven't seen him for the past few weeks… which just made me even more confused, considering he told me he was hanging out with David last Friday," Kurt muttered, glaring down at his phone. He'd texted Blaine an hour ago, and his boyfriend had yet to text him back.

He missed the times when he and Blaine could text for four hours straight without ever taking a break.

"That sucks, man. You don't think he's like, _cheating_ on you or something, do you?" Kurt's eyes widened for a second at the idea, but then shook his head.

"No, no, I trust him, Finn. I just don't know how well I know him." Kurt mumbled the last part, but Finn still managed to hear him and look at him in slight confusion.

"Wait what? Dude, he's your boyfriend; how can you not know him?" Finn asked, moving to sit next to his stepbrother on the bed.

"I don't know, Finn," Kurt sighed, leaning his head on the taller boy's shoulder. "I mean, we were friends a while before we started dating… but I _still_ have never been to his house; I don't even know where he _lives_, yet I could walk to his dorm room with a blindfold on in the dead of night."

Finn awkwardly patted Kurt's shoulders, the latter turning his head and breathing in Finn's scent.

"You know, if we'd been sitting like this last year, you'd have been running for the hilltops screaming bloody murder," Kurt muttered softly, a smile pulling at his lips.

"Yeah, and you'd've been over the hills with joy," Finn shot back, the two of them breaking into laughter. "But don't try to change the subject, Kurt. I'm not as stupid as I was last year, either." At that, Kurt picked his head up to raise an eyebrow at the singer. "It's true! Rachel's helped me out a bit in some of my classes."

"Speaking of Rachel, tomorrow's Tuesday. Any word on when you'll get to meet her new brother?" Kurt asked, trying to lighten the mood and change the topic away from his own relationship.

"Uh, yeah actually. I think she said Thursday, around four, and then we're going to the movies," Finn said. Kurt nodded before collapsing onto his bed. The two sat in a comfortable silence for a few moments, Finn having moved more into the center of the bed than before. The silence was broken by the sound of Kurt's phone vibrating on his blanket.

"I'll just head back to my room" Finn said as he stood up, noticing Kurt smile as he sat up and checked the caller ID. Kurt simply nodded, waving his step-brother away before answering the phone.

"Hi, Blaine."

_ "Hey Kurt. Look, I'm sorry I've been so busy-"_

"No no no, it's fine. I understand, really. Family's important; I understand if you want to hang out with them more, help them out," Kurt quickly interrupted, not wanting Blaine to feel bad. Blaine paused for a moment before responding.

_"Thanks for understanding, Kurt,"_ he said quietly. Kurt smiled softly at the sound of his boyfriend's voice – he really did miss him. _"But, actually, I was wondering if you were free on Thursday? Maybe… three-ish? My dad says it's fine, and that he won't pull any last-minute jobs for me to do, so…"_

"Yeah, of course!" Kurt grinned, glad to finally be able to see him.

_"Great! Do you want to meet up at the Lima Bean, then? It's been a while since we've been there." _

"Sounds great, Blaine," Kurt said, his voice soft. It really_ had _been a while since the two had been to their coffee shop. They usually went to Breadstix for lunch or dinner now, or just hung out at Kurt's house.

_"See you there, then." _There was a slight pause before Kurt heard Blaine say softly, _"I love you."_

"I love you, too, Blaine. See you Thursday at three."

_"Thursday at three,"_ Blaine repeated before they simultaneously ended the call. Kurt lay back in his bed again, excited at the thought of finally being able to see Blaine after a week without him.

* * *

><p>"Blaine, time to go get Michael!" Rachel said, distracting Blaine from the summer work he'd been finishing up. He dropped his pencil before shuffling his papers neatly together on Rachel's desk and heading downstairs towards the hallway where the front door was. As he tied his sneakers, he listened to Rachel excitedly talking about what she was going to do.<p>

"-and of course, I'm going to have to start teaching him how to dance. After all, by his age I'd already won first place in all but one of my dance competitions! But it's not _my_ fault that the judges were biased towards the others. I mean, there's really no other excuse. Anyways, I'll need to start training his voice to hold long notes, too, but I can't do too much since his voice is just going to drop when he gets older. But I'm sure-"

"Rachel," Hiram said from outside, having moved toward the car. "How about we just get him home and comfortable, and see what _he_ wants to do." Rachel sighed at the suggestion, but nodded in acceptance.

"I don't think he'll tell you anything," Blaine said softly, always feeling slightly awkward speaking to his new adoptive family. "He usually just prefers to watch people before joining in on anything."

"What do you suggest then, Blaine?" Hiram asked, honestly curious over what his new son wanted to say.

"Um, well, I think that just doing your normal routine would help him the most. It will help him get to know how you guys act. He doesn't like having too much attention focused on him; I think it scares him a bit," Blaine informed them, trying to recall how Michael acted when he was first brought into the boys' home about a year before. "Oh, he likes bananas a lot. I'm sure giving him one would make him feel more comfortable, too."

"Sounds good." Hiram nodded at Blaine with a smile before turning back to the car. "C'mon, kids! Before Leroy leaves without us!"

Blaine watched Rachel skip out the door before making his way outside. As he shut the door, he watched the Berrys climb into the car with a bittersweet smile. When Rachel climbed over her papa's seat to hit the horn twice, Blaine blinked and hurried to the car, not wanting to keep them waiting any longer.

* * *

><p>"-and this will be your room once it's done," Leroy finished, pointing into the half-painted room beside his own. Blaine carried the six-year-old in, quietly pointing towards a few bits of furniture in the room that weren't covered by tarps.<p>

"How about lunch? Are you hungry Michael?" Hiram asked. The boy clung tightly to Blaine's shirt, slightly hiding his head. Blaine shook him gently, trying to encourage him to answer. Hiram and Leroy exchanged a look before Hiram spoke again.

"Well, I think we've got some bananas Michael. Do you like those?"

Michael picked his head up and turned to Hiram, a soft smile on his face as he nodded slightly, reaching a hand over toward his new father. Blaine passed him over, happy that the boy was feeling even just a bit comfortable with the family that was now his own. He patted his head, slightly ruffling his brown hair as he did so.

The family walked back down the stairs, Michael now in his dad's arms as they made their way into the kitchen. Hiram placed him in a chair at the table and Leroy handed him a bright yellow half peeled banana. Michael smiled before taking a small bite off of the top.

Blaine smiled at Michael from his place leaning against the kitchen doorway before turning to glance at Rachel, who was searching the cupboards for something to eat. He looked at the time – 12:30 according to the clock on the oven. Turning once more to Michael, he saw his new parents happily talking to the smiling boy before he pushed off from the wall and silently made his way back upstairs to Rachel's – and his – room.

He was only able to work in his report for another five minutes before the sound of footsteps followed by an opening door pulled his attention away. He turned to find Rachel sitting on her bed.

"Blaine? What are you doing up here?" she asked, swinging her feet slightly.

"Just finishing up this work," he answered, having turned back to the papers once she spoke.

"I mean… I just thought you'd be more… _excited_ to have Michael here. He seems to really like you, and you him." Her voice was soft, and Blaine cringed slightly, realizing how cold he was acting towards her.

"I am, Rachel," he said, his voice free of emotion. "I just feel it more important that he gets to know you three, seeing as I've already known him for almost a year. If I'm down there, he'll just try to hide behind me if he feels uncomfortable. Leaving him alone down there will help him open up."

"Isn't that forcing him to do something he doesn't want to do, though? He doesn't really talk, so it's not like he'd tell us if we make him uncomfortable or something." Blaine slammed his pencil onto the desk, rubbing his face with a sigh and turning towards his sister.

"Rachel, he'll never learn if I coddle him," he said shortly. "He has to learn to tell _you_ how he's feeling, not just me. I'm going to be at Dalton again in September, so he'll just have to get used to my not being here. He was fine last year with the other boys after a little while, and he'll adjust to life here, as well. He's shy, _not_ incapable."

Rachel sighed, looking at Blaine with sad eyes. "So, you're still going to Dalton?"

Blaine turned back to his work and groaned. "Yes, Rachel. I am going to Dalton. My friends are at Dalton. I have acquaintances at McKinley, and I'm also sure I've already got enemies there, most of whom I've never met."

"But we'd protect you-."

"And what about next year?" Blaine asked, looking down at his papers. "The majority of the New Directions are seniors, right? In case you've forgotten, I'm going to be a junior. So yes, I'd spend one year being defended by you guys, and then things will just be even worse my senior year. Not to mention, I don't even really _know_ most of the New Directions, and things will only get worse for Kurt if his boyfriend's there."

"But Blaine-."

"Rachel. We have this conversation every night. I'm _not_ going McKinley. We've got a month left of summer vacation; I suggest you _stop_ wasting it trying to make me go to your school, and _start_ spending it with your boyfriend and new brother," he said sharply, picking up his pencil to continue working.

"Blaine, you're my brother now, too. Not just Michael," Rachel told him, raising her voice slightly from her previous soft tone.

"Maybe to you and your dads, but not to anyone else."

"And what about you?" she asked softly. She heard Blaine's sharp intake before he released his breath.

"I don't know, Rachel. But I'm not in the mood. Go hang out with Michael and let him get to know you. Just-… just don't be too loud. Let me know if you need any help." With that, he reached across the desk to grab his iPod, placing the headphones over his ears and efficiently drowning her out if she decided to continue talking.

"Fine, Blaine. Good luck with your work." With that, she walked out of the room, her head held high in her attempt to make a point to the boy who wasn't even paying attention to her.

* * *

><p>Thursday rolled around quickly for all four teenagers. Ten in the morning found Kurt carefully picking out his clothes, Finn still sleeping, and Rachel warming up her vocal chords. Blaine, on the other hand, had already been up five hours and was currently bringing groceries into the boys' home he had recently left.<p>

"Oh Blaine, thank you _so_ much. I just didn't want to leave Tommy here alone; I think he caught a touch of the stomach flu," Mrs. Greenwell said, taking the bags from the teenager after she opened the door.

"It was no problem, happy to help," he said, looking around the home. Most of the boys were still asleep, not usually waking up until eleven. A few of the older kids looked up and waved at him before returning to their summer work or video games. A ten-year-old boy ran up and clung to him happily with a screech of 'Blaine!'

Blaine chuckled, ruffling a blond head of hair. "Hi Jake, how've you been, buddy?" he asked with a grin.

"Great Blaine! Me and Lucas went to the park to play football yesterday and he accidently hit a beehive! We had to jump in the lake to get away from them, and then walk all the way home _soaked_!" Blaine laughed at the overenthusiastic boy, shaking his head before looking up at Mrs. Greenwell who was now putting away some of the groceries.

"It didn't cause any problems for him, did it?" he asked, worried about his PTSD.

"Nope, none. He really has been getting better this year, Blaine," she said after turning to him with a smile. She shut the last cabinet before facing him and the excited boy still clinging to his middle.

"Okay, Jake, I think that's enough. Let Blaine go; I hear he's got a date today," she joked. Jake let go and chuckled when he saw Blaine blush.

"Uh, well, yes. I'd better go and get ready for that. But I'll, uh, be back tomorrow with a few more things," he mumbled, his face still red.

"Have fun, Blainey!" Jake smirked and Blaine slapped him softly on the back of the head.

"I will, Jake. Now go finish your homework! Last time I was here I could have sworn you hadn't even _touched_ your math yet." Blaine had an eyebrow raised and a smirk on his face as he spoke to the ten-year-old. Jake glared at Blaine before groaning.

"Fine!" he yelled, stomping away towards his room. Mrs. Greenwell chuckled, and Blaine looked over at her with a smile.

"Thank you, Blaine. I have a feeling he would have just ignored me if I told him to."

"No problem," he said, giving her a quick hug before walking back towards the door. "Just let me know if you need anything, all right? I'm sure Kurt would understand if I had to leave early for some reason."

"No, no, no. You've been here far too much lately. Go spend time with your boyfriend. You don't live here anymore, and as much as I _love_ your help and as much as the boys love you here, you _need_ to enjoy your life," she told him somewhat sadly.

"I do-."

"No you don't, Blaine. Go enjoy yourself. You are _not_ allowed in here for the rest of the day." Her voice was strict, but she had a soft smile on her face. The corners of Blaine's mouth flickered upward before he nodded and made his way out of the room.

* * *

><p>Kurt took a seat at their usual table, two cups of coffee in front of him. He moved one to the other side of the table, taking a sip of his own before turning to face the door. He watched with a grin on his face as his boyfriend made his way into the Lima Bean and looked towards Kurt with a smile.<p>

"Hi, Kurt," Blaine greeted before taking his seat across the table. Kurt smiled warmly before reaching his hand over and squeezing Blaine's. Blaine turned his hand over, threading Kurt's fingers through his own.

"How have you been?" Kurt asked, glancing at their hands with a smile before returning his gaze to Blaine.

"Ahh, good, busy. My parents wanted me to get some schoolwork done, so that's what I've been doing in most of my free time," he shrugged.

"So, no going to house parties with the other Warblers and getting drunk out of your mind," Kurt joked with a smirk. Blaine laughed and shook his head before taking a sip of his coffee.

"Mm, yes, I'm a total alcoholic, Kurt."

"More like 'coffee-holic'," he teased.

"Look who's talking!" The two laughed as they moved on to discuss what had been happened during the past week. For the most part, Kurt talked and Blaine listened, paying complete attention to his boyfriend. Ninety minutes and two coffees each later, the two made their way outside, hand in hand.

"You know, Rachel's got a new brother," Kurt said, rubbing his thumb along Blaine's hand. He felt it twitch in his grasp and turned up to him with a raised eyebrow, but Blaine simply smiled.

"Have you met him yet?"

"Finn went to go meet him today, actually. Then they're heading out to the movies." They approached Blaine's car, and Kurt smiled before placing a soft kiss on his boyfriend's lips. "So, I was wondering if you wanted to come hang out at my house for a bit? You know, if there's not too much work to do at home, still."

"Sounds great, Kurt," Blaine answered with a soft smile on his face. "I'll meet you there, okay?" he said, stepping into the car. Kurt nodded and Blaine shut the door, turning the ignition on before rolling down the windows. He reached out of the window before grabbing Kurt's hand and giving it a slight squeeze.

"See you soon," he mumbled. Kurt said the same in response and watched Blaine drive away before stepping into his own car.

The ride was short; Kurt only lived about ten minutes away. When Kurt pulled up, Blaine was just stepping out of his own car, and walked over to open Kurt's car door for him.

"What a gentleman," Kurt mumbled with a smile on his face. Blaine returned it and grasped Kurt's hand in his own, the two of them making their way inside.

* * *

><p>"You've been gone a while, Blaine," Rachel commented as she heard her bedroom door open.<p>

"Haven't seen Kurt in a week," was his only answer before he pulled his shirt over his head and replaced it with a plain white one. "Have fun with Finn?"

"Yes, actually. Michael was a bit afraid of him, though; I think he thought Finn was a monster," Rachel joked, trying to get a laugh from Blaine.

"Mm, I guess he's too tall," Blaine said, sitting on his make-shift bed and staring at the wall in front of him.

"Yeah, I guess…" Rachel's eyebrows furrowed together as she watched her brother. He was so… distracted. She thought that seeing Kurt would have cheered him up, but now it just seemed like Blaine wasn't actually even _there_. "Things okay with Kurt?"

"What?" he asked, turning towards Rachel with confusion on his face. "Of course, why do you ask?"

"You just seem… out of it," she said for lack of better words. Blaine turned from her with a sigh and lay back in his bed.

Rachel watched him for a moment before moving to sit on her bed and look down at Blaine. Blaine looked up at her for a moment, the two of them lying down in complete silence – Blaine on his back, Rachel on her stomach.

"Do you think he's going to find out?" Blaine finally asked.

Rachel looked at him for a moment before understanding flashed in her eyes. "I don't know, Blaine. It's always possible. Maybe you should just tell him before he does; let him know you tru-"

"No, Rachel." His voice was strong as he turned onto his side. "I'm not telling him unless I have to."

"It's ripping you apart, Blaine…" she said softly, worried for her brother. Blaine simply ignored her, and pulled a blanket over him. "What are you doing?"

"Going to sleep," he mumbled.

"It's only seven…"

"I don't feel well. Goodnight, Rachel." Rachel winced at his cold voice before getting up off the bed and turning off her light. She made her way out of the room but turned back just before she shut the door.

"Goodnight, Blaine."

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: So. I can tell you nothing but the fact I'll almost certainly be time-jumping next chapter, seeing as I have not _begun_ the next chapter. And I do feel very bad about not replying to peoples reviews, but I do very much appreciate all of you, and I'll try and reply from now on, okay? And you're all also free to message me any time, too. No promises on how soon I'll reply, but...

Thanks again to everyone and I'll do my best to have the next chapter up sooner! This was much longer of a wait then I expected - I was hoping to try and get stuff up once a week-ish. Hopefully I'll be able to do that eventually... but yes, any suggestions, comments, corrections, criticism, anything, let me know!

And thanks again to themuse19 seeing as looking at the corrections you made I saw just how incredibly stupid I'd been while writing it... I should really read what I'm writing. I tried it once, and I fell asleep... apparently my own stories bore me.

~Joshua


	4. Chapter 4 Part 1

**Title**:Nothing's So Heavy as a Secret

**Main Pairings**: Kurt/Blaine, Rachel/Finn

**Summary**: Blaine has secrets. Kurt _knows_ that Blaine has secrets. And those secrets are revealed when Rachel receives some exciting news from her fathers. Will the life Blaine has built come crumbling down when she finds out, or will the Berry's be able to help him? And what will happen when Kurt finds out? Sometimes, one secret getting out is all it takes to break someone.

**Rating**: T

**Word Count**: ~2,000 not actually sure

**Disclaimer**: Glee is created by Ryan Murphy, I don't own it, it's on Fox, blah blah blah. I mean, why would I be writing fan fiction if I owned it? The only things I suppose I own are the people who have _not_ been on Glee that show up - like Michael. But yeah, Glee, not mine.

**Beta'd By**: No one

**Authors Note: **HEY! LOOK! I'M NOT DEAD! And I feel like a terrible person! Thus you all get to see my unedited, unfinished chapter four! :D Aren't you sooo happy?

So, yeah. I'm going to go ahead and blame my muse. I just can't. type. anything. Glee. I'm currently plotting around with a Torchwood fanfiction, though, but I'm not uploading any of that until the whole thing is done. See? I'm learning.

But I'm hoping I'll get the muse to finish this. And yes, it leaves off at a random spot, but the next scene is only half finished, so that's what you get. And it's completely unedited. I can't reread my own work, I don't know why. So, have fun reading this! It's completely terrible! :D Nothing really _happens_. But I'm going to delete this chapter and re-upload the whole thing when it's done. I just wanted to let you all know I wasn't dead, and decided to let you read what I have so it wasn't just an authors note. But I'm very sorry and hope you can all forgive the 45 days it's taken me just to upload this. I'd force the rest of the chapter out of me, but that would means my story would have _less_ plot... or, that's what usually happens.

SO! I'll just let you read this now. Or if you want to wait for the whole thing, don't read it. :D And also, if anyone's not aware, Homestuck's really addicting. And I'm apparently Egderp now. :D

* * *

><p>It was September 4th.<p>

One day left until the school year began for McKinley.

Blaine had packed up his bags for Dalton, now having more clothing than he had had last year. Rachel had taken (forced) him to go shopping, having him pile up stacks of shirts, suspenders, bowties, vests, and anything else she could get him to wear. He had tried to tell her how he was just going to wear his uniform at school, but she insisted that he come home every weekend, and thus needed new clothing.

He wasn't really planning on doing it much, but she had told him she would go pick him up if he refused.

On the plus side, Rachel's house was a five minute drive from Kurt's. But Kurt thought he would be at Dalton, or his house. And Kurt didn't know his house was Rachel's house. So he would either have to wait around for a few hours to see Kurt, seeing as Dalton was two hours away, or he would have to say he got up earlier or something.

Either way, it required more lying. And he really _didn't_ like lying to Kurt.

Sighing, he finished packing up the last bit of school work he'd done and dropped it on the ground beside his make-shift bed. Rachel's parents – or, his as well, he supposed – wanted him to stay until Rachel left for school the next day, which was fine seeing as he himself didn't start school until the seventh; and in all actuality, that day was more of a day for people to settle into their rooms and have five-minute classes to meet their teachers for the year, most of them being the same as the year prior.

One good thing about Rachel going to school would be having a good six to eight hours on his own for the day, possibly more depending on Glee Club and any other after school activities. Though, he wasn't actually sure if they would be staying after; Rachel said they only did that when they were preparing big numbers.

He had already told Mrs. Greenwell that he would work there during the day; it's not like he had anything _else_ to do. Every activity was something he really didn't want to do alone, not even getting coffee. The Lima Bean was boring without Kurt there to talk to him. In fact, it felt boring and depressing.

Speaking of Kurt, he was actually in the Berry's house right now. Blaine himself had actually been at Mrs. Greenwell's until every single boy had fallen asleep the night before, allowing him to stay out until around midnight. And considering Rachel and Kurt being… well, being Rachel and Kurt, they had likely fallen asleep around 10, allowing him to slip up to her room unnoticed; Rachel had convinced Kurt to sleep in the basement so long as they had a comfortable air mattress for them both.

He was just glad Mercedes wasn't there, as there wouldn't have been enough space for all three of them on that one air mattress. But, apparently she'd been spending less time with Kurt and Rachel and was instead spending it with her new boyfriend Blaine had never met. Kurt had met him once, and told Blaine he didn't really like the guy. According to him though, when he had tried to tell Mercedes, she had freaked out on him and hadn't spoken to him once since, neither wanting to apologize for what they did/said.

And now it was six thirty in the morning, and Blaine was stuck upstairs because he'd forgotten that Kurt liked to get up at five, and he'd already almost reveled himself once when he was going down to the kitchen, only to find Kurt nursing a cup of coffee, his hair slightly sleep disheveled. Blaine had looked at it for a moment, rarely having the chance to see it natural before being styled back with gel and hairspray, and resisted the urge to run his fingers through it before running upstairs as quietly as he could.

A knock on the door snapped him out of his thought, and he stood quietly just as a precaution of his boyfriend maybe searching for Rachel, who tended to wander the house once she woke up.

"Blaine?" The whisper came from the other side of the door. "I've got breakfast."

Opening up the door a crack, Blaine smiled at Leroy and whispered a quiet thank you, looking around the hallway before opening it fully and letting him in.

"Don't worry, Kurt's with Michael and Rachel in the basement. I'm sorry you're stuck up here Blaine. If you wanted Hiram and I could try and sneak you out?" he suggested. "Not that we want you out of the house, just a suggestion. I'd imagine it'd be better than being stuck in here."

Blaine simply shook his head with a smile.

"No, it's okay. I think I'm just going to try and go back to sleep for now, thank you though. Any idea on when Kurt's set to leave?"

"I think he said his dad needed him home around eleven…."

"Okay, thank you Leroy," Blaine said, smiling. Leroy returned the smile, albeit a bit sadly.

"No problem, Blaine."

* * *

><p>Blaine sat across from Kurt in the coffee shop, the two of them having made little to no conversation since they'd arrived. Having decided to head up to Dalton after talking to Kurt about his first day of school, he was in his Dalton Uniform. And in all honesty, it also felt like a bit of a safety blanket to him.<p>

"You're quiet," he said, putting his drink down after taking a sip.

"No, I'm being passive aggressive," Kurt replied. "You promised that by the first day of school you'd make a decision. And yet, there you sit, cute as ever, but still in your Warbler's blazer."

Blaine chuckled softly and shook his head. He'd had this conversation with Rachel so many times, and yet it didn't seem to aggravate him as much with Kurt as it did Rachel.

But that didn't mean he liked it.

"I just can't bail on the Warblers," he protested in slight exasperation. "Those guys are my friends." He was grateful when Kurt let out a slight sigh before speaking again.

"Okay, alright, fine, alright. One final sales pitch and then we can talk about making over Nancy Grace. If you stay at Dalton, you and I are competitors."

Blaine nodded his head slightly before responding, "That's true."

"And I'm just not sure that our budding love can survive that," Kurt finished, Blaine leaning back in his chair slightly before responding.

"Let me get this straight," Blaine began, attempting to be serious. "I have to transfer because you're just afraid that I'm gonna beat you at sectionals." By the time he finished, he had a slight grin on his face.

"No, I'm afraid that I'm gonna beat you." And just like that, the mood between them was completely light, Blaine letting out a laugh. That's what he loved about being with Kurt – the countertenor always knew just how to lift his mood, even if he was the one that brought it down with conversations he really didn't want to partake in.

"And I know what that does to you - when I win." They both laughed again before Kurt suddenly got a more serious look on his face. "Look I mean honestly, I just… I just want to see you more. I want my senior year to be magic, and the only way that's gonna happen is if I get to spend every minute of every day with you."

Blaine smiled at his boyfriend's slight pout and reached his arm out from under the table and grabbed the others. He could only feel his smile soften even more when Kurt brushed his thumb back and forth across the other's skin.

And for the first time, Blaine _really _considered transferring. He already knew he would do anything for Kurt… he loved him, after all. But_… leaving Dalton_. That was a big decision.

The two put it behind them for the moment as their conversation lightened, and Blaine decided he would give it some serious thought later.

* * *

><p>"I was thinking about transferring," Blaine told Jeff as he lay on his bed in their shared dorm room. Jeff was still putting away his clothes, Blaine having decided to put it off until later. Both of them had agreed to arrive at Dalton two days early in hopes to catch up with each other before the school year started, a few of the other Warblers doing the same.<p>

"Wait, what?" the other asked him. Blaine turned onto his side to face him.

"Yeah, I mean… it's Kurt's senior year. He's going to _college_ next year," he started, exaggerating the word. "Knowing him, it'll be in New York, or somewhere else far, _far_ away from Ohio. I want to be able to spend more time with him this year… and Dalton's a pretty far drive from McKinley."

"Well, yeah, but.…" Jeff frowned slightly before sighing, and saying what was on his mind. "What if something happens between you guys? You don't want to have made such a _big _decision that you might not be able to undo, _just_ for your boyfriend."

Blaine looked at Jeff and frowned, turning onto his back and thinking it over again. It was a few more minutes of quiet unpacking before he said something again.

"But what if it wasn't just for Kurt?" he asked, turning his head slightly. "What if… I wanted to go to overcome the challenges of my past? And for more… personal reasons, _family_ reasons." He thought of the Berry's and how much easier it would be on them if he didn't have to pay for the gas every week to go to and from Dalton. He thought of Mrs. Greenwell and how much more he'd be able to help if he was at home. He thought of Rachel – his sister, whether or not he wanted to admit it – and how happy she would be.

Jeff didn't ask Blaine to explain what he meant about 'family' reasons. Everyone knew that family was a sore subject for the lead singer. No one knew _why_ exactly – some people thought his parents hated him for being gay, others thought they were the usual rich parents who had a son for publicity. But all they knew was that if the topic of family grew up, Blaine would grow silent. And if anyone asked him anything, he'd change the subject.

"Well, I think you should list the pros and cons of going," he simply said.

"Kurt," Blaine blurted out quickly.

"Homophobes," Jeff countered. "The whole reason Kurt transferred _here_."

"But clearly it's better," Blaine said. "After all, he's back."

"Okay… but you know it's still there. May I remind you of Prom?" Blaine winced slightly at the memory of his sobbing boyfriend – he'd recounted the story to Jeff when he'd gotten back, and only to Jeff.

"Well, yeah, but… anyways, gas money. _Much_ closer to my house than Dalton," he continued, refusing to call the Berry's house his _home_. Too soon. And if Jeff noticed that factor, he pretended not to.

"Lower education," Jeff pointed out.

"New Directions."

"Ahh, but that's a pro _and_ a con," Jeff joked. "Rachel Berry will probably call you a spy."

Blaine laughed at that, wondering if the girl would despite the fact she had begged him (multiple times) to switch. "But, you've gotta admit, the New Directions are so much closer than us. More… loose. Compared to them, we're probably as strict as a court office." Jeff laughed at the comparison and nodded.

"We may not be as close, but we still care about you, Blaine," Jeff whispered quietly. "Once a Warbler, always a Warbler. We've still got your back, no matter what."

"Thanks Jeff."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Pfft. Wow, Blaine. Wasted all that time packing things up for Dalton, just to leave before classes start. Smooooth. And yeah, Kurt's got persuasion skills. Also, I don't actually remember that scene very well, so I just wrote in actions. And I got the lines from offline and edited a bit to what I remembered, so let me know if they're wrong~

~Joshua


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